Preliminary data from Peru’s National Elections Office indicates a tight race in Sunday’s presidential run-off, with conservative former first lady Keiko Fujimori holding a slight edge over far-left candidate Roberto Herberto Sánchez Palomino.
On Sunday, millions of citizens flocked to polling places to decide between Fujimori and Sánchez Palomino as the next president. The nation has been through multiple political upheavals, witnessing nine different presidents in roughly a decade.
The run-off follows a complicated first round in April, where 35 candidates competed. That election was plagued by logistical issues and a notably slow counting process, leading to about a month before authorities identified Fujimori and Sánchez Palomino as the finalists for the run-off.
As of now, the results are still unclear, with a difference of about 30,000 votes separating Fujimori, from the conservative People Power party, and Sánchez Palomino, representing the far-left coalition Together for Peru. According to the latest official count from ONPE at 8:38 a.m. local time on Monday, with 93% of votes tallied, Fujimori secured 50.085% while Sánchez Palomino received 49.915%.
Omar Awapara, Executive Director of the NGO Transparencia, remarked on Sunday night that the race is “statistically tied.” He mentioned a report by Transparencia in collaboration with polling firm Ipsos that indicated Sánchez Palomino garnered 50.3% of the vote, while exit polls suggested Fujimori would take 50.7%.
Awapara emphasized, “We are essentially talking about a tie. Mathematically, the results for both candidates are nearly identical, similar to the differing methods of exit polls that carried margins of error.”
Fujimori also acknowledged the tight race, telling her supporters on Sunday night that determining the election’s winner would require some patience due to the “technical ties” with her opponent, referencing findings from both Transparencia and Ipsos.
She urged her supporters to stay alert while votes were being counted and reassured them that she would accept the official outcome once the process concludes. Moreover, she highlighted the importance of monitoring the counting process with representatives from popular forces involved in the observation.
Fujimori pointed out that it would be “irresponsible to base judgments on sample counts” which used only a small fraction of votes from the total nationwide.
Sánchez Palomino, too, rallied his supporters after the release of Transparencia’s report. Speaking at Lima’s Plaza San Martín, he urged his followers to “protect” their votes and ensure election transparency.
He reportedly stated:
Today’s exit polls indicate a notable lead, affirming the people’s will for democracy and justice. Crucially, we must protect votes and guarantee that the election results are verified before the official announcement is made in the coming days.
Reports indicate that Sunday’s run-off was exceptionally close, and although there was still uncertainty as of Monday morning, logistical issues that marred the first round in April seemed to be largely absent. The Peruvian news agency El Comercio noted that ONPE successfully distributed all electoral materials on time, allowing every voting location to open as scheduled.
However, the conclusion of ONPE’s counting process doesn’t mark the end of the run-off process. While ONPE organizes the elections in Peru, the National Jury (JNE) handles voting technology and any election-related disputes. Once ONPE finishes counting all votes, the Special Elections Officer (JEE) will review the results and tally them before JNE formally declares the winner. Based on Peru’s electoral laws, all of this must be completed by the time the next president is supposed to assume office, no later than July 28, 2026.
Currently, Peru is under the leadership of interim president José María Balcazar, who was sworn in mid-February. Balcazar, an 83-year-old Marxist pro-child marriage congressman, took office following the impeachment of his predecessor, José Gerry, over corruption allegations from the “Chifagate” scandal. Gerry had assumed the presidency in 2025 after the impeachment of interim president Dina Bolarte, who was herself not elected. She stepped in after the removal of former president Pedro Castillo, who was also impeached and arrested for attempting to dismiss Congress unlawfully. Castillo was sentenced to over 11 years in prison in November.
As it stands, Peru hasn’t seen a president complete a full term since leftist former President Ollanta Humala exited in 2016. Humala and his wife are expected to serve a 15-year prison sentence in 2025 for corruption. Depending on the outcome of Sunday’s elections, either Fujimori or Sánchez Palomino could become the country’s tenth president in a similar number of years.
